Condi for President? Something Happened on the Way to the Coronation

The Dick Morris juggernaut hit a serious snare this week as Condi Rice — without question a fine Secretary of State — announced not merely that she’s not interested in running for office (President or anything else; but who believes a politician who says such things?), but that she’s pro-abortion as well.

This is not the first time. Condi’s told the press these things before — all the way back to at least 1999 — including the San Francisco Chronicle, the Weekly Standard and National Review.

What is different is that Morris has spent the past three months shouting from the rooftops — and privately working to persuade key conservative leaders — that Condi is the salvation of the Republican Party, indeed, “the only person in America who can beat Hillary”.

This was dubious anyway. There are many good potential Republican candidates, and among them, the only one with a slam-dunk shot at the White House is Jeb Bush.

But what is certain is this: no candidate has the slightest prayer of winning the Republican nomination without solid pro-life credentials. And no one should know that better than Dick Morris.

What is Morris’ game? Who knows? He’s a brilliant man, and one of the finest strategists of our time; he’s also a notorious self-promoter with more than a couple books to sell just now. Nevertheless, this is a strange play. Plenty of those conservative leaders bought into Morris’ pitch; now, having just assumed he was giving them full disclosure, more than a few are left feeling either foolish or lied to or both. They aren’t happy. And that’s bad for Dick.

On the good side, though, the Condi story is over. She can get back to doing her truly outstanding job as Secretary of State, and the rest of us can get back to finding the best standard bearer for 2008.

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Rod Martin and [former Howard Dean campaign manager] Joe Trippi are America’s two foremost experts on online politics.Annual Bipartisan Conference of George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management

Rod Martin is a Reaganite-Thatcherite conservative…[and] a man who has spent much of his life ministering to and working for the benefit of others. I know Rod as an advocate for freedom, a leader who understands the real changes we need in Washington, and who has the drive and ability to make those changes happen.Steve ForbesPresident and CEO, Forbes; Former Presidential Candidate

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Rod Martin is one of America’s finest young minds.Dr. Edward TellerFather of the H-Bomb